Don't Stand So Close To Me
by dhawthorne
Summary: A songfic to the song Don't Stand So Close to Me by the Police.  A staff member's account of the relationship between Albus and Minerva during her school years.  Rated T for studentteacher relationship.


Don't Stand So Close To Me

DISCLAIMER: Everything Harry Potter-related belongs to J.K. Rowling. The song, "Don't Stand So Close To Me" belongs to the group _The Police_. This is a response to the challenge posted by Jessabelle on the Albus & Minerva Fan fiction Board.

* * *

This is written from Professor Binns's point of view.

* * *

_Young teacher, the subject  
Of schoolgirl fantasy_

Although Albus was certainly the most qualified for the post of Transfiguration Professor, I was worried that he may not have been the most appropriate. He always had many girls hanging off him while he attended Hogwarts, and although he never did anything to encourage them, he gained more female admirers as the years went on- particularly after defeating Grindelwald.

Even as one of the older professors, his students were persistent in attempting to win his favour. During the balls held regularly at Hogwarts, he was asked to dance by his bolder female students. Occasionally, he acquiesced, and danced a non-romantic number with a few of his students.

Luckily for Albus, most of the girls who pined for him found someone else- it was, after all, only a simple schoolgirl crush. All but one girl, that is.

_She wants him so badly  
Knows what she wants to be_

Minerva McGonagall began her career at Hogwarts quite a while after Albus had established himself at Hogwarts. He was known as a professor with interesting classes, a fondness for muggle candy, an above-reproach integrity and moral code, and for being a lifelong bachelor.

_Don't stand, don't stand so  
Don't stand so close to me_

Minerva McGonagall changed all of that.

* * *

_Inside her there's longing  
This girls an open page  
Book marking - she's so close now  
This girl is half his age_

By the time she had begun her final year at Hogwarts, both she and Albus were infatuated with each other. He had begun to train her as an Animagus during her sixth year, and their "private lessons" took up most of her spare time.

_Her friends are so jealous  
You know how bad girls get  
Sometimes its not so easy  
To be the teachers pet  
_

Her friends were incredibly jealous of the professor who took up the time that Minerva should have been spending with her friends. At least, that's what they told her. In reality, they were jealous because she had Albus wrapped around her finger.

* * *

Albus's integrity kept him from starting a relationship with her for the longest time, although he was sorely tempted to. Eventually, however, the temptation got to be too much for him to withstand. 

_Temptation, frustration  
So bad it makes him cry_

It was Christmas break, and Minerva had returned to her home to celebrate her sister's engagement. She had gone to Diagon Alley to finish her Christmas shopping, when she ran into Albus at the "departing" floo.

_Wet floo stop, she's waiting  
His arms are warm and dry_

It was a wet day, unusual for Britain in December, as it normally snowed. Albus offered to Apparate her back to her home, as the queue was very long and he feared Minerva would catch a cold. She agreed, and stepped into his arms as they Apparated back to his home- not hers. When they opened their eyes, Minerva realised that she had Apparated them back to his house. Albus knew what it meant- she was just as much in love with him as he was with her. He bent down and kissed her, and then carried her inside to his bedroom.

* * *

_Don't stand, don't stand so  
Don't stand so close to me_

When school resumed after the Christmas holidays, students and my fellow professors alike could sense the difference in Minerva. They could see the way Minerva and Albus interacted in the classroom and outside of it. Minerva had finally completed her Animagus training, but she and Albus continued to meet every evening- ostensibly to play chess.

_Loose talk in the classroom  
To hurt they try and try_

As they continued to isolate themselves from the rest of the school, the rumours began to spread. In class, no one would sit near Minerva, and the notes the professors confiscated always had something to do with the inappropriate relationship between Albus and Minerva.

_Strong words in the staffroom  
The accusations fly_

Even the staff room was no longer a safe haven for the Deputy Headmaster. My colleagues accused him of leading her on, seducing her, and numerous other offences. Some of these accusations were well founded, while others were based on false speculations and rumours.

* * *

_It's no use, he sees her  
He starts to shake and cough  
_

Albus knew that they had to break off their relationship in order to salvage what little was left of their reputations. He tried to speak to her, but could not get the words out when they were together. She had bewitched him- not by magic, but by love.

_Just like the old man in  
That book by Nabokov_

He had to send her an owl to tell her it was over- at least until she graduated. Although she was of age, Albus could not help feeling like the man in Nabokov's book _Lolita_.

* * *

Graduation came and went, and Albus and Minerva were able to resume their relationship- this time in secret. They were married a month after her graduation. I was their Secret-Keeper; for, after all, I was the first one who realised their true relationship and the only one who did not accuse Albus of seducing a student. To the world, Albus was a bachelor; but to those select few, he and Minerva McGonagall were just the Dumbledores, whose love had endured every attempt to destroy it. 


End file.
